Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Cleto Escobedo III, longtime leader of the group Jimmy Kimmel Live!died at age 59, Jimmy Kimmel general via Instagram, November 11. “Early this morning we lost a good friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime band leader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote alongside a photo of Escobedo. “To say we're heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since we were nine years old. The fact that we get to work together every day is a dream that neither of us ever thought would come true.”
Kimmel met Escobedo in 1977, when Kimmel moved to Las Vegas from Brooklyn as a child. Except fraud including bike accidents and pranks, they played music together and Kimmel called Escobedo was a “child prodigy,” remembering how “the whole school” would come to see him perform. After all, when Kimmel was putting together a team for his talk show, he brought Escobedo on the team in 2003; Escobedo earlier thoughtful left the music industry before Kimmel called. “I think I was in Atlanta and Jimmy called and said, 'Hey man, I think I'm going to have this show. Do you want to be my team leader?” Of course, I answered: “Yes.” — Escobedo Guillermo said in an interview. On the red carpet. “It was the best concert ever.”
